The Black Rose
by RippleInThePond
Summary: Every flower holds a meaning. What do flowers mean to you?. One-shot. I do not own Doctor Who
1. The Black Rose

The Black Rose

By RippleInThePond

OoOoO

The Doctor and Rose were walking through the streets of Kalador, the realm of the flowers. All flowers were sold here, and they were the most beautiful and luxurious flowers in the entire universe. It had been one of the rare peaceful trips that they experienced as they had walked through the endless fields of flowers, taking in it's majesty. As they walked, something caught the Doctor's eye and he froze. Rose turned to him, her eyebrow raised in a silent question.

The Doctor smiled down at her. "I'm alright. I just realized that there is something I had to do. Go to the TARDIS. I will be there soon, okay?" She nodded although she was suspicious and left towards the TARDIS, the key swinging in her hand. As soon as she was far enough away, her turned and walked to a cart not too far away. He picked up a bouquet of rare gold and silver flowers.

The woman behind the counter smiled softly. "Are they for a loved one?" The Doctor nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. The woman smiled, the corners of her eyes wrinkled with old age. She shook her head slightly looking down before whispering nostalgically. "My husband used to buy me flowers, even though they were everywhere. Everyone thought it was so silly, but I thought it was sweet." She looked up at the Doctor."Anyways, gone now. He died a while ago, but it still hurts. Take them for free. It is very clear how much you love her."

He shook his head. "I can't do that. Please, let me pay." She smiled a bittersweet smile. "Please, I insist."The Doctor nodded again, whispered a small thank you, and then walked toward the TARDIS. When he arrived at the door, he hid the flowers behind his back. He opened the doors to find Rose sitting in the jumpseat. She was sitting in the jumpseat, dozing off slightly.

He smiled at her, pure love and affection in his eyes. He walked up to her and when he got close enough for her to hear his footsteps, her eyes slowly opened."Hello." She whispered drowsily a smile on her face. The Doctor gave a soft smile before giving a small "Hello." He walked closer and stood in front of her.

"I have a gift for you." Rose's eyes lit up as she woke up quickly and sat up straight, staring at him expectantly. He chuckled softly, pulling the bouquet out from behind his back.

When Rose saw the bouquet, she smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. The Doctor panicked and pulled away slightly. "If you don't like them I can return them."

"Oh no! I love them! Its just..." The doctor looked quizzically at Rose. "Just what?"

Rose took a deep breath. "Flowers hold meanings when they are given. But, flowers will eventually die. The death of the flowers implies that the meaning they hold is lost. Those flowers hold a meaning to you and I." She smiled a sad smile before looking the Doctor straight in the eye."I don't want the meaning that these flowers hold to die." She looked down and a single tear streamed slowly down her cheek.

The Doctor's eyes softened and he softly grabbed her chin and lifted it. He wiped away the tear before before pulling her into a hug, his arms wrapped firmly around her. He turned his head and whispered into her ear. "Ok. No more real flowers. No dead memories." She nuzzled his shoulder. "Only immortal flower for our never-ending memories." She whispered back. They stood there for a while, holding each other. After some time, he leaned back and said softly. "Let's go to the library, okay? The film is your choice." Rose nodded and half hugging they walked to the library for some very necessary TLC.

The next day, he gave a book full of the meanings of every flower and every day after that, he would give her an immortal flower. A flower full of memories.

OoOoO

The Doctor had seen the signs, but had chosen to ignore them. They had started small. Her appetite began to dwindle. Then, she was was always exhausted. Then, her muscles began to ache without ever using them. She got migraines that felt like her skull was splitting. She then experienced on and off paralysis in her arms.

Rose was very sick, and the Doctor was ignoring the signs, too afraid to acknowledge their , her condition plummeted. She wouldn't wake up easily. Her eyesight began to disappear. Suddenly, she was unable to move anything at all sometimes. He finally took her to the medical bay and ran tests to figure out what was wrong. When the results appeared on the screen, the Doctor froze. His eyes began to water, but Rose passed it off as a trick of the light. "Doctor, what is it? What is wrong with me?" The Doctor turned to Rose, and tears spilled out of his eyes and onto his cheeks.

It could no longer be a mere trick of the light.

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a broken cry. He cleared his throat lightly and paused as if saying it aloud would make it more real. Then he replied in a rough voice overflowing with emotion, tears still streaming down his face. "You are dying, Rose. A-and there is nothing I can do about it." The Doctor's voice cracked and his body began to shake. Rose went pale and her eyes widened. The Doctor let out a broken sob and scooped Rose up into a hug.

"Nothing?" She sobbed. The Doctor shook his head and pressed his nose into her neck, as if trying to memorize her scent. She squeezed the Doctor as hard as she could in her sick state and cried into his shoulder. "B-but, I promised you forever!" Her voice shattered and she sobbed, drenching his jacket in salty tears.

The sobs began to calm and soon the Doctor looked over to see that Rose had cried herself to sleep. He gently lifted her legs with his right hand and cradled her against his chest. He carried her to her room and carefully tucked her into bed so that he wouldnt wake her. He walked to his room taking slow steps with his drained body. When he arrived, he slowly opened his door and stepped inside.

When his door clicked shut, he grabbed the lamp next to him and threw it across the room. He began to throw everything he could. Books, tools, papers, everything that was within his reach.

He grabbed a picture frame off of the shelf next to him and almost threw it before seeing what it was. Inside of the frame was a picture of him and Rose at the park. His arm fell to his side, desperately clutching the picture frame with one hand. The Doctor sank to his knees, the picture frame clicking quietly on the floor.

He began to cry, harder than he had with Rose. Harder than he could ever remember. He began to rock back and forth as he screamed into the room. "Why?! Why do I always lose _everyone!"_

If you were to walk into the room, you would have found a man lying on the ground, clutching a picture to his chest, with his eyes closed in a fitful sleep. You would have found a man who lost everything and he still would lose more. You would have found a man whose soul was shattered, his demons haunting him freely.

OoOoO

The Doctor was completely and utterly desperate. As he began to realize that he couldn't cure her on his own, he began to seek help. He looked for the best healers in the universe. He traveled to the best hospitals to ever exist. He searched for miracle workers. All of the people he had begged for help had said the same thing.

They couldn't help her.

The Doctor eventually decided that in her last days, that Rose should be with her mum. Jackie had slapped the Doctor as hard as humanly possible for not protecting her, but when she saw the agony in his his eyes, she hugged him, and thanked him for bringing Rose home for her last days.

They admitted her into the hospital, and the Doctor was always by her side. He had brought their old flowers into the room with her and every day, he would bring her a new flower and would lay it on her bedside table next to her book of meanings. Sometimes it was allium. Others it was a pink carnation or a helerium. There were so many more, but the red roses were always Rose's favorite, for they told her the words that he would never and could never say.

When a nurse finally asked why he always brought in fake flowers, Rose gave a weak laugh and responded with what she had once told the Doctor. "They will never die, so neither will all of the memories that they hold."

The Doctor was in a state of despair, his soul filled with anguish and pain.

Rose, his oh so lovely Rose, was dying and he was absolutely helpless . He sat down next to her in the hospital room and for the first time since he found out about what would become of Rose, he began to cry. He slowly leaned over and whispered in her ear with a broken voice. "Rose Tyler, I love you."

She stirred slightly and opened her eyes. She gave the Doctor a smile so small it barely existed. She then spoke, in a soft voice rough with disuse. "My Doctor, I love you too."

She then closed her eyes with a blissful smile. The steady pulse in the room became one long monotone note.

Doctors and nurses rushed into the room, pushing the Doctor aside, away from Rose, and then out the door. He stood watching through the window, unable to speak or move as they tried to restart her heart. He felt as if he were hollow, unable to feel anything except to mourn that which he had lost. The doctors slowly began to stop running around urgently. The nurses picked up the clipboard and wrote the time of death. One of the doctors came out and put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

_Epilogue_

It was the day of the funeral and the Doctor sat in the wardrobe room in the TARDIS._'It is time, my Thief'_ The TARDIS whispered into his mind. On autopilot, he lifted himself out of the chair and got changed. Not into his pinstripes, but into the suit that always brought bad things. 'I guess that is another event to the list.' He thought as he slowly exited the TARDIS and walked to the graveyard and when he arrived, he saw a tombstone next to that of Peter Tyler's.

_Rose Marion Tyler_

_Born __June 13,1986_

_Died __September 27,2010_

_Loving friend and daughter_

The ceremony began and the Doctor stood next to Jackie as she sobbed. People walked by and spoke, but no one noticed the tears that ran down the Doctor's face. No one saw the hearts that broke as he watched her be lowered into the ground, never to be seen again.

When the ceremony was finished, a woman in a suit quietly walked over to the Doctor.

"I assume that you are THE Doctor?" He turned to look at her, his hearts empty and shattered. "Yes, I am." he said in soft, hushed tones. "Please, go away. I just want to be alone."

The woman's eyes became understanding as she nodded.

"In a moment. This was her last request."The Doctor looked at her, a face of confusion coming forward against his pain. She smiled sadly and stepped aside. in the view of where she had been was a truck which was full of all the flowers he had ever given her. "She wanted you to have them." She handed him a card and then walked away.

He slowly looked down at the note he had been handed and began to cry all over again.

_Hello Doctor. If you are reading this, then I am gone. I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my promise._

_My Doctor,I just want to ask you to do something for me. Just one last thing._

_Have a fantastic life, my Doctor, and never ever forget._

He read the card again as he walked over to the gravestone. He kneeled down and ran his fingers across the words. He began to cry again, although he didn't even notice. His chest was constricted with the grief at the loss of her and the guilt that he couldn't save her. He slowly pulled an immortal black rose from his pocket and laid it at the base of her tombstone. He sat, thinking of her smile. Of the sound of her laugh. Of the days long gone. When the Doctor knew he would break if he stayed any longer, he stood up and walked to the truck the woman had shown him. The one that held memories of a love now lost.

_Goodbye_

OoOoO

_Allium-Prosperity_

_Pink Carnations-I will never forget you_

_Helenium- Tears_

_Red Roses-Love_

_Black Rose-Farewell_

_Please review! Seriously, please. It makes me want to cry not getting reviews especially when I know someone has read it. _


	2. Author's Note

Hullo! This is not a chapter but a notification. I wrote a follow-up story to The Black Rose! Yay! Anyways, it appears completely unread, so if you could get it out there that it exists, that would be WONDERFUL! Anyways, it is called Flowers of the Forgotten. Please read it and review it! Criticism is welcome!


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